Peak Oil
The price of crude oil dominated the energy news for the past month, with oil reaching prices over $98 a barrel. While there’s really nothing magic about $100 oil, economists have invested the number with their own brand of mysticism. Why 98.67 is regarded so differently from 100.00 is a mystery to me.
What we [...]

Please join me in contributing to this very worthy cause, and pass it to your friends.
Sad that we have to do this, but it’s just another thing we have to do to respond to the gross disregard that the Bush junta shows for anyone unlucky enough to be in or to join the military when [...]

“Come gather round people, wherever you roam,
and admit that the waters around you have grown,
and accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you is worth saving,
then you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone,
for the times they [...]

Coming to Portland recently was the easiest move I’ve made in a…well, let’s say it’s been my easiest move ever. It’s a friendly big city, which is rare. People reach out and encourage new ideas, helping out with advice when asked, jump at the chance to collaborate over coffee.
 Also, I’m finding that Portland lives up to [...]

This doesn’t go nearly far enough or address enough issues, but it’s an important step in the right direction: declaring an end to the massively destructive “War on Drugs” that especially targets people of color:
Support Reforms to Federal Drug Sentencing Laws
Oregonians have the chance to change federal sentences for crack cocaine and challenge some of [...]

Presidential hopefuls are treading lightly on Social Security, but it’s shaping up to be an important issue in the 2008 general election.
Meanwhile, the first baby boomer applies for Social Security…
Boomers read on. This is our chance to right the wrongs of Social Security and to realize the dignity in retirement that we’ve earned.

I’m thankful for people like Amanda Fritz and Jack Bog and, of course, the folks who started Onward Oregon, and all the other people who know that “discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation” (in the un-pc parlance of the times).
Just yesterday, Amanda provided a link to a [...]

What’s in a Name?
Being an independent journalist has its attractions. One is I can promptly respond to a good idea if one happens to shows up. One has. Instead of calling the first column of the month “Peak Oil” I’m going to expand the title to “Energy Watch.” There is too much going on with [...]

Today while walking up SE Hawthorne in Portland, I was greeted on the sidewalk by Dylan, who works against global warming by working for Greenpeace. Dylan tells me there’s a global warming gathering that Portland-area OnwardOregonians might like to know about, coming up this weekend.
+ Saturday, Nov 3, from 2-4 p.m. Greenpeace is hosting a gathering of concerned [...]

The first thing to do when faced with a situation racing wildly out of control, such as a massive wildfire roaring down a canyon road toward you, is to evacuate. You can drop everything that isn’t alive and regroup later.
My son Eric is the youth pastor of Malibu Presbyterian, the church that was one of [...]